little girl left to die in hot car by adoptive dad, no charges expected

In another case of heinous mistreatment of a black child in a white adoptive parent’s custody, 1-year-old Katera Barker was left to die in a sweltering vehicle by her father, Matt Barker, who allegedly forgot the infant until his wife Jenny realized Katera had never been dropped off at daycare, like he dropped off the other children that morning. When Jenny arrived at the daycare to pick up the other children and learned that Katera wasn’t among them, she called 911 before racing home. Upon arrival, she found the 1-year-old inside what is presumed to be the husband’s car, where she performed CPR until the paramedics arrived on the scene. But Katera was pronounced dead on arrival at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.

Matt, who went out of town after leaving his 1-year-old to die in the car, isn’t expected to be charged with crimes related to her death. Just an oopsies I guess. And as wrong as it is to leave unattended children in vehicles during extreme or even moderate weather conditions, it’s worth noting that a black mother Nidia Josep-Delgado left her two girls alone in a car for more than an hour so she could go on a job interview at LaGuardia Airport back in October with the doors unlocked and the A/C on. Though both of her children were fine, Josep-Delgado was charged with two misdemeanor counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child.

One of these things is not like the other.